Stress is present in everyone’s lives. Whether it’s getting your kids out the door for school or facing a troublesome boss at work—you can’t escape stress.

Or can you?

Granted, you can’t avoid stressful situations from occurring. However, there are strategies that can help you to break free of your stress.

When you are stressed, you often feel out of control and even helpless to do anything about the problem. Yet, when you learn to feel more in control, you have the ability to better cope with your stress.

Over the long-term, this allows you to have a healthier outlook on life—and not be such a wound-up ball of stress!

So, how can you break free of your stress? Consider these four strategies.

1. Develop a Breathing Practice

Why is it that so many articles about stress management talk about breathing? The reason is that managing your breathing is a basic way for you to regain control when stress arises.

When you get stressed out, you start breathing faster. However, you are not actually getting more oxygen!

To better cope, practice breathing in and out slowly while you are feeling calm. Hold your breath both after the inhale and the exhale for a short period of time. This practice actually helps you to be more connected to your body and how it responds during stressful situations.

2. Get Better Sleep

Another strategy that can help you break free of stress is getting better sleep. We are learning so much about how our health is connected to the quality and quantity of our sleep.

Some things to keep in mind for better sleep include:

• Getting between 7-9 hours of sleep each night

• Having a “wind-down” time an hour or so before going to bed

• Creating an evening ritual, such as drinking a decaffeinated tea while reading

• Not eating or drinking in bed

• Keeping electronic devices, including cellphones, out of your bedroom

• Using a special alarm to wake up slowly instead of suddenly

• Avoiding smoking or drinking right before bedtime

3. Do Something Physical to Break Free of Stress

Physical activity is also a great strategy for freeing yourself of stress. It’s an outlet that allows you to channel all of your stress and flush it from your system. Going to the gym and working out is one idea. However, you don’t have to be a “gym rat” to get the stress management benefits of physical activity.

Great physical activities to try are, for example:

• A daily walk

• Running or jogging

• Gardening

• House chores

• Going for a hike

• Dancing

• Riding a bike

Even tapping your fingers or using a rubber grip that you can squeeze helps in the moment to cope with stress.

4. Break Up the Problem

Oftentimes stress occurs when you face a difficult or challenging problem. For instance, your car won’t start, and you need to get to work. Instantly, you start to feel the stress building inside you. The situation seems overwhelming, and there’s no clear path forward.

Here’s what to do:

• Slow down!

• Take a few breaths and step back a moment from the situation.

• Identify the problem

• Come up with three options for moving forward.

• Pick an option and implement it.

This helps you to break up the problem into more manageable pieces. You don’t have to deal with everything at once. Instead, you can focus on possible solutions rather than the problem.

What If Those Strategies Don’t Work?

Stress management is an important life skill that everybody should learn. However, for some, stress can be absolutely overwhelming. Having multiple strategies available is important in dealing with stress.

If you tried the strategies listed above and are still struggling with stress, it’s time to see a therapist who understands the impact of stress. An experienced therapist will be able to help you develop solutions customized for you. One of these could be utilizing brainspotting. It’s a tool that allows a therapist to better target troubling emotions and help you heal.

If you're interested in knowing more about advanced techniques to help you resolve your stress, please contact me or learn more about anxiety therapy here.